I Am Shane M Dodger
by ClintonBush43Obama
Summary: Hi everyone! So long since I posted here! This one is going to be in stages. I will take it slower than I usually do, because I don't have an outline for this one. I am writing it and letting it go where it takes me, though I do have a general idea. Post-AYITL. Rory is preparing for her baby and writing her book. How will both change her life forever... and who will be there?
1. Chapter 1: Our Daughter Has a Surprise

**Chapter 1: Our Daughter Has a Surprise**

Luke Danes used to only ever go to bed shirtless when he lived alone in his apartment above his Diner. Even while living with his girlfriend for the better part of a decade, the gruff hunk of a man would insist on retiring for the night clad in a T-shirt at the very least. Lorelai had always pouted at this, saying that her man wasn't "playing fair" before showing off the classic Gilmore pout. But Luke had kept up the habit out of gentlemanly respect, despite dirty temptations from his girlfriend.

Except she was not his girlfriend anymore. She was something much better, as he now watched Lorelai emerge from the bathroom in a suggestive pink nightie. Lorelai Gilmore was finally his _wife_. Though the rest of the town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut didn't know that. The small-town simpletons - sad fools all! - honestly believed that Luke and Lorelai would wait to follow decorum (and the labels on the hastily-made invitations) and get married on November 5th... the very next day. But the couple had grown tired of waiting, Luke and Lorelai both. For nine years they had waited. No... twelve years they had waited; 2004 was when they had gotten together the first time. Yes, there was a "first time", inevitably followed by a "first time" breakup - all relationships that had stood the test of time involved at least one fallout at some point. Wait... scratch that also... when had he first met her? Nearly _twenty years_ they had waited, going from proprietor and customer, to acquaintances, to friends, finally to lovers, then back to friends, then back to lovers again, until finally (finally!) man and wife.

Lorelai... Danes (Luke felt a growl of triumph in the pit of his stomach as he tried out her new name in his head) now crawled beneath the coverlet and snuggled up to her new husband. "You gonna make love to me, mister? Or is this the sequel to the 40-Year-Old Virgin?"

"Steve Carrell couldn't pull it off," Luke deadpanned, enjoying the banter as she gave him the green light to take her for himself. Rolling his bride over onto her back, Luke mounted her and began to place tender kisses down her face and then her neck, working towards the valley of her breasts that were coming into view as he reverently undressed her.

The return ride from the gazebo after the elopement had been funny and yet furtive. The newlyweds had stolen back to Maple Street in Luke's truck like fugitive thieves in the night, their only companion being Rory Gilmore, Lorelai's only child. Michel and Lane had also been informed of the scandalous union, but were sworn to secrecy. Meanwhile, back at their house, Luke had forgone the traditional method of carrying his bride across the threshold, and instead opted to fling Lorelai over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, he-man that he was. Protestations from Rory had only resulted in his new stepdaughter getting thrown over his _other_ shoulder. Even in matrimony, you Gilmore girls are a package deal, Luke had told the young journalist, and do you want to wake the whole town and tip them off? Rory had laughed through the whole thing, and was now sleeping in her childhood bedroom downstairs off the kitchen.

Lorelai felt the need to remind Luke of this fact as they began to make love as husband and wife. "Rory's downstairs..."

"... and asleep," Luke growled. "She's a grown woman and no idiot. But if we somehow wake her up, I'll take the blame. Besides, she's only ever wanted her mother to be with me..."

Lorelai airily gasped as Luke now entered her. "She might still be mortified. Sex does that to people..."

"Sure. In the South. This is real life, not _Gone With the Wind_!"

"Oh, Ashley!" Lorelai teasingly wailed as Luke picked up the speed of his thrusts into her.

"That's not my name," Luke snarled. "What's my name, Lorelai?"

"L... Luke..." Lorelai moaned as he took one of her perky breasts into his mouth.

"I swear to God, if you finish that sentence with '... I am your father...'" Luke warned.

"FUCK ME!" Lorelai cried out instead.

Luke, genuinely worried about waking Rory up, slapped a hand over Lorelai's mouth for only a moment as he worked towards his release. His wife thrashed and wailed beneath him until finally, with a shudder and groan, Luke emptied himself into her. He rolled off her just enough so that he could curl into her side, their limbs tangled in afterglow bliss.

The night was still, the silence mixing in with the darkness in a peaceful, cocooning manner, until finally Lorelai spoke. "When did you first fall in love with me?"

Surprisingly, Luke did not have to think before answering. "The first day I met you. You came tearing into the Diner demanding coffee like you'd die without it. Made me fill out that blasted horoscope."

Lorelai raised her head off his chest to look at him. "I thought you hated me! You sounded so annoyed that day."

"It was the only way I could cover how I was dying inside," Luke said softly, sincerely. "When I first saw you, I thought, _'Oh My God! I have never seen a more beautiful woman in my life!'_ And then there was this pesky other voice in the back of my head, nagging me, saying to me, _'That's your wife, buddy.'_ And as much as I knew I could only get addicted to you, that nagging voice kept ordering me to go talk to you."

Lorelai stared at him. "Awww..." She smiled, her eyes pooling with tears. "Love at first sight. It's a damn shame it took me time and throwing off my stubborn pride to see it."

Luke shook his head. "Doesn't matter. We're together now." He caressed her face, and she leaned into his touch. "I waited forever for you..."

"Hmm," Lorelai smiled. "Rory said something of the same once. Which reminds me..." And she bent over him to press a kiss to his lips. "Our daughter has a surprise for you..."

Luke's brow furrowed as he eyed her, curious and amused. Still, he couldn't help the smile that graced his lips, nor the filling of his chest with smug pride at Lorelai referring to Rory as theirs. Referring to Rory as _his_. "A surprise?"

"You have to wait and let her tell you, though."

Luke wondered what kind of surprise merited that stipulation. But at the time, he didn't give it much thought, instead merely shrugging before he resumed making love to his wife.

* * *

 **A/N: I went slightly AU in that I had Rory tell Lorelai on the day of the elopement, instead of the day of the actual wedding.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Maid of Honor's Dad

**Chapter 2: The Maid of Honor's Dad**

Rory Gilmore wandered the wedding reception, her mind on a path just as aimless as the one her feet now carried her along. She ran her hands lightly over her periwinkle dress, trying not to entertain the paranoid thoughts of how it felt tighter already as opposed to when she last tried it on, only a matter of days ago.

People had been coming up to her all evening, commenting on how she was the prettiest Maid of Honor they had seen in years. Rory put on her mask, her brave smile, doling out Thank You's in a gushing way that was fake to only her.

"Sugah, you look positively radiant!" Babette had pronounced in her raspy voice.

"Rory, honey, I'd help you find a fella in this crowd, but that face and dress are already drawing them like moths to a flame!" Miss Patty had cheekily informed her. And indeed, Rory noticed she was catching the eye of most of Luke's groomsmen - young friends of Jess's that her stepfather's nephew had rounded up.

Someone else noticed how Rory was becoming the Belle of the Ball - Luke, the groom himself. His eyes followed Rory like a heat-seeking missile, their beams only growing more fervent when he saw how Jess's buddies were all eyeing her like a snack. _They better not get any ideas..._ Luke had growled to himself. Locker room talk be damned! Donald Trump or no, if that's how men these days conducted themselves, watching any attempts at sexual intercourse was little better than watching the gorillas in that _Tarzan_ movie with the Phil Collins music switched off.

And then there was that cryptic message from Lorelai the night before, about how his new stepdaughter had a surprise for him. But what could it be? And was it anything good, if Rory's body language was to be believed? The way her shoulders were slightly slumped. And he knew that smile - her fake one. It could fool the entire town, and maybe her mother on occasion, but it couldn't fool him. Something was wrong.

So, Luke sauntered over from the punch bowl table, heading off a groomsman who seemed to have gotten the same idea. "May I have this dance, young lady?" Luke playfully bowed to Rory.

Rory blinked, almost as if she was startled, but quickly covered it up with a smile. "Why, of course you may!" she played along, curtsying. Luke noticed the cock-blocked groomsman slink off as he and Rory danced away. _Yeah, you'd better run, punk! You're lucky that cock only got blocked and not something far worse. Like chopped off._

As the pair waltzed, Luke saw how Rory was more focused on her feet not mangling the steps than she was on him. Her eyes were heavy, and she just had a... melancholy countenance about her. Gently, he lifted her chin with a finger so he could meet her eyes. "Rory... you know you can tell me anything, right? Your mom said you have a surprise for me..." Ordinarily, he would have waited for her to tell him, but something in his gut told him that nudging her in that direction might make things better for all of them.

Rory visibly gulped and nodded, her eyes pooling with tears. "I have something to tell you..."

And whatever it was, it wasn't good, Luke had all but confirmed that. "Is it a job? Did you lose a writing assignment? Or that boyfriend, what was his name? Patrick? Peter?"

"Paul," Rory corrected him.

"Whatever. Is it...?"

"No, it's not about him."

"Are you sick?"

Rory shook her head, abruptly bringing their dance to a halt. Then she suddenly leaned up and whispered in his ear, and the way she clung to him made Luke feel as though she was a little girl again, telling him a secret.

"I'm pregnant."

She pulled back, and Luke's jaw dropped. Rory's eyes searched his, and Luke wondered if it was approval, or at least acceptance. Whatever he said next, he knew it would matter and have ramifications for years to come. After all, Christopher might be Rory's father, but he - Luke - was Rory's _dad_.

"P... pregnant?"

"I'm going to have a baby," Rory smiled weakly.

Luke's eyes filled with tears, tears that he refused to shed. His eyes scanned the crowd, almost daring for anyone to look their way at the wrong moment. He couldn't fall apart like this, not with Rory; Patty or Babette would have the rumor mills churning faster than he could say 'Gilmore.'

"That's... that's wonderful!" He croaked. Rory blinked, surprised by his lack of judgment. Luke felt his grip tighten protectively around her. "Whatever you need, you understand me? Whatever you need, and it's yours." He paused. "The father...?"

"Is not Paul," Rory whispered quietly. "It's... Logan."

Luke's eyes widened in astonishment, but instead all he asked was, "Will he help?"

"I don't think he's in a position to," Rory murmured sadly. She stared up into his face, searching again. "Are you... disappointed?"

"No! Never! Never at you, Rory..." he soothed her.

"But the _menu_!" Rory suddenly wailed, the softest voice of her stepfather's suddenly making her come unglued. "You put my New Yorker piece on the back of _your_ _menu_ , and you and Mom are always so supportive, and I just keep jumping from bad choice to worse. I've been flailing since practically college. I mean, who does that? What kind of person takes all these amazing opportunities and, and just wastes them? Just - throws them away? This person right here, that's who. I just keep picking whatever's easiest, because maybe I think I'm less likely to screw up? Or not picking anything at all, and just pretending I know what I'm doing and dressing it up as some romantic adventure. I'm 32 years old, for crying out loud. I shouldn't - I shouldn't be so scared of living my life… I'm so scared, Luke."

Luke bit his lip, before wordlessly pulling Rory into his embrace. It rattled him when she clung to him and began to violently sob. "You've been so proud of me... and I don't deserve it! April deserves it..."

The mention of his biological daughter made Luke scan for her face in the crowd. He finally spotted her, laughing with Jess over a picture the young man had taken on his camera. Gulping, Luke held Rory closer, allowing her to soak his tuxedo through with her tears.

"April's not my only daughter..." he murmured to her quietly, rubbing small circles along her back. "It's OK, princess... It's OK... Don't you know that I'm crazy about you...?"

Rory finally relaxed in his embrace, letting out a shuddering breath. "You're a great dad, Luke," and he knew she wasn't just talking about April. "And you will be an amazing grandfather."

"You'll be an amazing mother," Luke promised her, kissing her hair and forehead as they swayed softly on the dance floor.


	3. Chapter 3: Knocked Up!

**Chapter 3: Knocked. Up?!**

"That was a great ceremony... Aunt Lorelai," Jess Mariano tried out the new title as Luke helped him load his luggage into his car for a long drive back to Philly.

Lorelai picked up on the deference with a raised eyebrow. "How does that taste coming out of your mouth?"

"Like sweet honey," Jess drawled.

Lorelai smirked. "Good boy." Then, she pulled her step-nephew in for a hug. "Drive safe."

Jess hugged Rory goodbye, too. "Send me those first three chapters as soon as you can! I'd be happy to edit them for you," Jess nodded, pecking her on the cheek platonically.

The Gilmore girls waved goodbye and headed back into the house. Jess turned to face his uncle. "You up for a touchy-feely hug, or will we have to bawl to each other over the phone?"

Luke just smirked and gave a jerk of his head towards the road. "Walk with me."

Jess followed his uncle into the street, matching the older man step for step. They walked in the silence of the fall evening for a time until Luke spoke. "There's going to be a lot of changes in this family over the next several months..." he prefaced as delicately as he could.

"Oh my God, I knew it! Lorelai's pregnant!" Jess gasped.

Luke blinked. "No. But your cousin is."

Now Jess's jaw dropped. " _April's_ pregnant?!"

"No..." Luke drew out slowly, slightly annoyed. "Your _other_ cousin. She's knocked up."

Jess stared gobsmacked at his uncle. The silence along the street was deadly, finally shattered by -

" _KNOCKED_. _UP?!_ " Jess bellowed in anger, each word punctuated and sharp, like a one-two punching jab to the face. Then, when the understanding that his stepcousin of only a few hours was with child had washed away, it was replaced by a new realization, one delivered with tingling and deadly calmness. " _Berger King_..."

Jess was a smart lad, Luke knew he would figure it out. But all the same, he tried to leave that information falsely ambiguous, before Jess did something drastic.

"Oh come on, Uncle Luke! She was always hanging around him even after Yale!" And Jess whipped out his phone and began Googling, dialing.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm calling the FBI! With a sexual predator on the loose..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We are not registering Logan Huntzberger as a sex offender!"

"But aren't you mad?" Jess snapped at Luke. "Aren't you enraged after what he did to... to..."

"Yes, I am, as any father would be. But we have to think about Rory first! She's going to need all of us to get through this pregnancy and everything else that poor girl has on her plate! That means you. And April. All hands on deck! Understand? Support Rory, and that means holding off on murdering her baby daddy until we have more information! Am I clear?"

Jess sighed and put away his phone. He would do anything to make Rory happy, and even more to please the uncle he had looked up to as the only father he had ever known. "Crystal."

The two men hugged.

* * *

A few weeks later, Jess was in his home office, going over Rory's first bundle of chapters on a phone conference with her. He had annotated the hell out of the margins on her manuscript, and was going over them point by point. Most were praise, with only a criticism here or there.

"I like how the lessons at the end of each chapter really tie the anecdotes together! And if I may say, your aliases for the guilty are quite original. Emmett Woods... I presume that's old Dean?"

"Watch _Legally Blonde_ ; you'll get the reference."

"But... why have I been transformed into Shane M. Dodger?"

"Well, M. is for Mariano, Dodger is based on a character in the first book we shared..."

"Which was...?"

"Oliver Twist, remember? And Shane... was the name of that girl you ran around with to make me jealous."

Jess cringed at the memory. "Clever. All right. Shane M. Dodger it is! How's the baby?"

He could hear the smile in Rory's voice. "Making her presence known through cravings still."

"Fair enough. Get some rest, cousin. Love ya," and he said it as he would any member of his family.

"Bye, Jess. Thanks!"


	4. Chapter 4: Return of the Potting Shed

**Chapter 4: Return of the Potting Shed**

Everyone in Stars Hollow had pretty much figured out that Rory was back in Stars Hollow on a more permanent basis. And unlike the summer, Rory no longer felt the need to refute them. She still had her job at the Gazette, and was living with her... parents. It felt easier to refer to Lorelai and Luke collectively as that instead of the more awkward phrase _'my mother and stepfather.'_ That said, Rory longed for having her own home in which to nest and prepare for the baby, then raise it. But Taylor didn't pay her enough at the paper for her to even afford an apartment, let alone a house.

She had considered asking Luke if she could move into the loft above the Diner, but felt weird about broaching it. The place where her stepfather had once lived served as an office now, but it seemed to hardly be used. Luke either did most of his paperwork downstairs in the Diner after working hours, or around the kitchen table at home with Lorelai. Nevertheless, Rory did not want to risk upsetting her stepfather and taking over a place that had to hold a sense of nostalgia for him.

She thought back to her days living with her mom in the Potting Shed out back of the Independence Inn. But there were new owners there now, so even if Rory had proof of her once living there as a child, she had no idea if the new owners would lease it out or even see it as a suitable residence. So for now, she stayed in her childhood room off the kitchen at Number 37 Maple, despite the fact that even if it was not too small now, it would definitely be too small soon. Even before the baby was born.

Luckily, Luke and Lorelai had been watching Rory run around to her job at the paper by day, writing the book by night, and using any remaining time to search for both jobs and affordable housing. If only they could take at least one of those tasks off her mind.

That was when Luke got a crazy idea, and called up an old contractor buddy of his in Hartford...

* * *

Rory came home from the _Gazette_ one winter's day feeling tired. She trudged in the front door of Number 37, and was trying to perk herself up to do what had become her favorite activity - writing her book - when her mother and stepfather suddenly jumped on her.

"Put on this blindfold, missy, and don't argue!" Lorelai chirped.

Rory frowned, confused, even as Luke tied the blindfold around her eyes himself. "Mom, Luke, what's going on?"

"A surprise!" Luke whispered in her ear.

"But it's not my birthday. Or Christmas!"

"Oh, come on - do you really think those are the only two days of the year when surprises are allowed?" Lorelai brushed aside.

Rory sensed her parents guiding her through the kitchen, to the back door leading to the back porch. Onto the back porch and into the backyard. "Keep your eyes closed!" Luke ordered as he removed the blindfold. Then: "Open them."

Rory opened her eyes and gasped.

It was the Potting Shed. The same one she had lived in for the first ten years of her life. But how was it here, and not at the Inn? "How did you...?"

"We bought it from the Independence, and your stepfather had a house-moving business he knows cart it here. It's yours. The inside is exactly the same as we left it; I was amazed the new people didn't touch it!" Lorelai explained honestly.

She all at once had the wind knocked out of her as her daughter threw herself at her in a hug. Rory broke down in tears on Lorelai's shoulder while Luke patted her back awkwardly. But this gesture from him did not get him out of a hug of his own, and Rory covering his cheek with kisses, same as she had her mom.

"I... I... Thank you! I love you both so much!" And she ran to her room to begin shuttling stuff out to the Shed.

Luke put his arm around his wife and watched with a smile. "Question: how is she going to get mail?"

"We label it 37 1/2 Maple Street," Lorelai answered seriously.


	5. Chapter 5: The Stand-In Dad

**Chapter 5: The Stand-In Dad**

Winter soon turned into spring. All throughout the early months of the new year, Rory retrofitted the Potting Shed to make it look more like home. All the while, she would write her memoirs in the cozy little abode by night.

Everyone supported her in whatever they needed. Lorelai and Luke would sometimes bring meals out to her if she was on a roll in her writing. April texted and Facetimed her stepsister from Germany, asking for updates on Rory's pregnancy. And of course Jess started to come more and more weekends from Philly to help Rory edit her manuscript and give her networking connections for publishers. He and Rory had tried to accomplish all this digitally and long-distance at first, but it had soon become too much of a strain for both of them.

One evening, in the Shed, Rory was rubbing her baby bump and perched on the single armchair she owned, watching Jess as he sat there and made notes on the latest bundle of chapters she had completed. He would be sleeping in the spare guest bedroom of what had come to be known as the Main House (Number 37 Maple Street) before heading back to Philly in the morning.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Rory murmured quietly, ever grateful that Jess was taking time out of his own writing career to help her.

"I want to, and actually I do have to. Uncle Luke told me all hands needed to be on deck to help you. Besides..." And Rory felt his gaze go to her. "I just want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted."

Rory's breath caught and her eyes filled with tears. There had once been a time - now heavily detailed in her manuscript - where precious few were able to ingratiate themselves into Jess's orbit of People He Cared About. That Rory was still one of those after all these years, and all her mistakes, made her feel eternally grateful and blessed.

Deeply moved, she kissed him. And though it had been years since they had been together like this, though their dynamic had shifted into the realm of quasi-family with the marriage of their parental figures, the old heat that had lain dormant came roaring back as Jess kissed her back. Clothes were shed, skin slammed on skin and Rory soon felt her weight - laden with the baby - collapse back onto the simple bed. She brought Jess down with her, but he didn't seem to have any intention of getting up. Heatedly kissing, Rory just managed to get out "Damn hormones!" from behind Jess's lips. He chuckled, his breath tickling her bare skin and warming her from the chilly spring night.

"Just do you, Rory. I can roll with it." Pretty soon, the pair were making love, capturing each other's lips between the groping of their sweaty limbs...

* * *

They lay tangled in each other's embrace early the next morning, both of them barely managing to fit in the tiny bed. Jess never even remembered to go back to the Main House for the night.

When Rory began to stir, Jess kissed her awake. She beamed at him. "You're glowing," he told her. "Why didn't you think of pregnant sex earlier? Or tell me about it? It's amazing!"

Rory giggled. "I had no one to do it with!" Then, on a dime, her eyes began to pool with tears and they began to fall.

Jess stared at her, distressed. "Rory? I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?"

"I HATE THIS!" Rory suddenly blasted out with no warning or preamble. She did not give any explanation as to what the _'this'_ was or why she was feeling this way. At least until she had calmed down from a round of hysterical sobbing. She looked down at her nakedness, remembering the feel of Jess's hands and mouth on what made her a woman. Even during the act of him taking her between his lips, she had feared he would think it was gross. The thought made her pout like a child. "I'm ugly," she whined.

" _What?!_ " Jess spluttered in disbelief.

But Rory just stomped out of the bed and over to a mirror against the wall. "Look at me!" she spat, scowling at her bloated figure. "I'm fat and ugly! I look like a pig!"

Jess just chuckled as he rose off the bed, finally beginning to understand. These were the pregnancy hormones talking once again. "Rory. You are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen."

Rory blinked in surprise and glanced away, self-consciously tugging at her hair as she tried to untangle it. Jess just smiled and sauntered over to her, taking her in his arms. She stared up at him plaintively. "Don't go," she begged. "Will... will you stay?" She looked down at her growing womb between them. "Even with... the whole... Logan thing. Even for..."

Jess made her look him in the face. "Of course," he smiled.

* * *

Luke was surprised and slightly wary of Rory and Jess rekindling their romance, and Jess's plans to eventually move to Stars Hollow and help Rory raise the baby. Luke demanded that his nephew treat Rory like a queen, or he would answer to him. The town, however, seemed relieved that the baby Gilmore would have some kind of father figure, and even if the residents of Stars Hollow had once deemed Jess unsuitable for their angelic pride and joy, they were pleased that Rory would be further taken care of. Obviously, the new blossoming romance led the town rumor mills to start a whirring as spring heated into summer.

"You'd think they'd all have something more interesting to talk _about_ ," Jess scoffed, as he leaned against Rory's legs on the floor of the Potting Shed, while the rest of the family gathered around her tiny TV set to watch a movie. "Three new ordinances from Taylor in a week, and all Miss Patty asks me if it's true you have Leonardo DiCaprio tattooed across your chest."

Both Luke and Lorelai snickered; Rory ignored them.

"And what did you tell her?" the expecting mother asked.

"I told her it was Matthew McConaughay," Jess replied, flipping to another page in the magazine he was reading. "Much more my style."

"Thanks. And, uh... what did you say Luke has?"

"A picture of your mom, but I didn't say where."

Luke scowled at the deadpan as Lorelai rolled around the floor, laughing. He pointed a finger at the two youths. "Watch it! Just because I gave you my permission..."

"Your _permission_?" Jess rolled his eyes. "Please. You said so yourself that you would rather Rory was with me than Logan or Dean!"

Caught there, Luke just frowned and tried to turn his attention back to the movie.

* * *

It was the middle of August when Rory's water broke.

Her screams from the Potting Shed had Luke and Lorelai come running. Luke had gallantly picked her up, bridal-style, like a knight would his princess, and rushed his girls out to his truck. Babette saw the whole fiasco from the window next door, and put her skills to excellent use; the whole of Stars Hollow knew within minutes. On the drive to the hospital, Luke called Jess.

"It's time. Get your ass down here from Philly."

"The baby's coming?!" Jess had yelped.

"Yes. Congratulations. You're going to be a father without having done any of the work."

Rory spent hours in labor, screaming and wailing and pushing and holding onto her parents' hands for dear life. Jess sprinted in just fifteen minutes before the baby started to crown. And soon, there was another Gilmore girl to dote over and fall in love with. Rory named her Lorelai (the fourth so named in their family) but went with Laurie as a nickname.

Out in the hallway, Luke - the proud grandpa - stepped away to have a moment. He pulled out a locket on a chain around his neck and clicked it open. Four small compartments were inside, three of them filled with pictures of his girls: Lorelai on their wedding day, Rory, and April at her graduation from MIT. The fourth compartment was blank for now, but it wouldn't be for long... There was a new girl to fill its spot...


	6. Chapter 6: Can I Have Your Autograph?

**Chapter 6: Can I Have Your Autograph?**

Rory bit her lip as she rocked baby Laurie's bassinet with her foot. In her hands, she was going over the completed manuscript of _Gilmore Girls_ one final time. Her parents and boyfriend sat around her, anxiously awaiting for her to send it off to her publisher. Jess had managed to get Dave Eggers to help Rory publish the memoir.

At last, Rory let out a low breath. "I think it's ready." Her finger hovered over the SEND button. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

No one said a word, and she clicked the button. The work would be ready, in print and on shelves, within a matter of months. She was going to be an author.

* * *

The book _Gilmore Girls_ was finally released as part of the Christmas 2017 rush. Being a first-time author, untested and unknown, Rory did not have the luxury of getting her own book tour to promote the work. All she would have to do was wait for weekly reports from her publisher, on sales and royalties.

So it wasn't until the mad dash between Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day that Rory finally received an indication of just the kind of impact her book was getting.

She was in the middle of a shopping mall with Jess and Laurie when the first sign happened. Going along, treading the mall's tiles up one way and down the other, traversing the same stretch of floor several times as the little family meandered from shop to shop, Rory soon noticed that a young tweenybopper of a girl had been sitting on the same bench for a while, a book in hand.

And the young girl was looking at her, then the book, then back at her. Finally, the girl approached. "Excuse me, are you Rory Gilmore?"

Rory blinked. "Yes..."

"Can I have your autograph?" the girl squealed and thrust the book into Rory's hands. Rory stared at her own picture of the book's back jacket returning her gaze. It was her book...

"I read it from cover to cover. Couldn't put it down," the girl said breathlessly. "My mom did too. The whole time, we were looking at each other, and realizing, _'This is us!'_ It's so relatable."

Rory laughed, the shock of someone asking her for her autograph beginning to wear off. "That's very kind of you..." And fishing for a pen, she signed the title page for her fan.

* * *

The first of many fans. Dave Egger's sales reports began to come fast and furious. Copies were being sold in the tens of thousands... then the millions... Within six months of publication, _Gilmore Girls_ had become a bestseller. The media, sensing a story, began to descend on Stars Hollow, the setting of the memoir now sweeping the mention. Paparazzi would try and swarm Rory whenever she left the Potting Shed, the _Stars Hollow Gazette_ \- even _Luke's Diner_! The reporters were even more fascinated by the presence of the baby Laurie.

"Ms. Gilmore, Ms. Gilmore! Will there be a sequel about you and your daughter?"

"Who is her father?! Emmett? Shane?"

"Have you heard about Steven Spielberg wanting the rights for his next film?"

Rory dealt with the new-found fame as best she could. After a whirlwind book tour, she raised enough money for her and her daughter and Jess to move out of the Potting Shed and into a respectable house in nearby Hartford. This move spared the residents of Stars Hollow from getting bombarded too, if only a little.

* * *

Jess stepped into the office of his publisher, Dave Eggers. He was here to talk about a potential sequel to his first work, _The Subsect_. Jess's sponsor and friend greeted him warmly.

"Jess Mariano! I hear your new book tour is going splendidly! And everyone is fascinated by your relationship with Rory Gilmore; the tabloids can't get enough of it! You heard her book has surpassed you on the Charts?"

Jess smiled with pride. "I did. And no one deserves it more than her."

"Do you think you could encourage her to write a sequel?" Dave pressed.

Jess shifted in his seat nervously. "It is something I have to discuss with her. But I first want what is best for my child and... her mother."

* * *

When Jess's latest novel was published a few months later (the fastest output of his career), he went on the media circuit. However, many in the media and many fans seemed more interested in his relationship with Rory Gilmore, who was now fast becoming a feminist icon for young girls, and the mystery author's tantalizing connection to the now legendary Stars Hollow.

Even Ellen got in on the act on her talk show. "So... who is the father of Rory's baby?"

Jess smiled tightly. "That is a question, Ellen, that is never meant to be answered. Not unless Rory wants to." He thought for a moment. "But... there is one question I can answer and that I feel I need to." He took a deep breath. "And that is... I am Shane M. Dodger."

The audience and camera crews exploded in excitement. One of the most mysterious characters on _Gilmore Girls_ was based on Jess Mariano, the famous author.


	7. Chapter 7: Complete the Family

**Chapter 7: Complete the Family**

"No, I am not Laurie's father... No comment on if it's Emmett. Or Reuben." (Reuben was Logan Huntzeberger's alias). "No comment, no comment, no comment!" Jess hung up the phone in frustration and turned back to Rory sitting on the couch in their Hartford home. "What did I do? The media firestorm is going crazy. I'm sorry."

Rory shrugged, hugging herself as she stood. "You have nothing to be sorry about. This was your decision. It was your identity you were playing with."

Jess deflated in slight relief. "Thanks." He took her in his arms. A moment of silence and then: "You think you'll right a sequel about you and Laurie?"

He felt Rory tense a little in his embrace. "I don't know. The response for this book was so unexpected and overwhelming."

"Maybe it would help if I tried to field all those questions for you. Everyone wants to know who her father is."

"You are more her father than Logan ever has been," Rory admitted honestly, staring up into his face.

Jess blinked, and then smiled at her. "Then how about this: Rory Gilmore, will you marry me?"

Rory gaped at him for a moment. Jess held up a hand.

"You don't have to answer right away..."

"Yes," Rory suddenly whispered. "Yes."

* * *

They held the wedding at the Dragonfly Inn. Toddler Laurie was a flower girl, and Luke gave Rory away. The diner owner also served as his nephew's Best Man. The ceremony was very quiet and done entirely in secret, with only Stars Hollow residents there. The media would get wind of the nuptials soon though; there was no doubt of that.

But as Jess and Rory danced at their reception, they knew that - come media or book sequels or parenting - they would get through it all together.


End file.
